RICHARD DAWKINS

AGE: 66
OCCUPATION: Evolutionist, author, Oxford University professor
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0

PRO: Adamant rationalist and prolific writer who holds a deeply gene-centered view of evolution and firm evolutionist's view of life. Dawkins has most recently spiced up the debate between believers and atheists with his unequivocally titled, bestselling book The God Delusion.

CON: Dawkins sometimes seems religious about his atheism. (In any case, debates about deities rarely change minds.) Some critics also feel that he misapplies the framework of evolutionary theory to phenomena  such as ideas and culture  that don't entirely fit the mold.